


smoke and mirrors

by tigermochaeyu



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Utopia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-27 19:07:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21397168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigermochaeyu/pseuds/tigermochaeyu
Summary: She’s striking, a cut above the average criminal Mina usually sees enter the palace walls.
Relationships: Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Comments: 17
Kudos: 307





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first michaeng i think i've ever wrote and the last one i'll probably ever write too lmao so i apologize if anything is wrong

“She’s doing it again.”

Mina sighs at the sound of her best friend’s voice, looking up from her holopad to see Jihyo moving the security screens through the air, pulling at the one connected to the dome camera until it’s expanded enough for them both to see. It’s dark in the dome, the holopanels meant to symbolize the passing of time within the cell. Well, it’s _meant_ to be dark, but a certain _someone_ is interfering with the holopanel screens.

Their prisoner is being an absolute menace, persistent as ever. She had insisted that if she were going to be trapped in this cell for all eternity, she should at least have _something_ to occupy her time, and the head guards gave her a few items to satiate her boredom with. Mostly puzzles and books, but one item given to her was a rubber ball, a relic of old society.

And boy was she intent on using it to get on every one of Mina’s nerves.

Their engineers have had to replace four holopanels already from her incessant bouncing, and yet she still continues to do so. With every bounce the darkness flares with a small light from the abused holopanel, allowing Mina to see the prisoner’s bored face every few moments. Despite the audio of the camera not being on, Mina can feel every thunk against the dome wall deep in her bones, filling her with an uncharacteristic rage.

“I think it’s hilarious how this girl gets under your skin,” Jihyo chuckles, leaning back in her chair to observe the other screens floating around the room, her keen eyes keeping a watch on any suspicious activity. “Even that one buffoon at the last gala that wouldn’t stop hitting on you didn’t get you this upset.”

“That’s because he didn’t try to hack into my family’s personal files, he was just trying to cop a very inappropriate feel,” Mina grumbles, still watching the prisoner bounce the ball against the dome wall. In one of the brief flashes of light, Mina catches the prisoner staring directly at the camera, cocky smirk plastered on her face as she lets loose a particularly hard throw, causing the holopanel it comes into contact with to spark as it loses power.

Mina nearly snaps her holopad in half.

“I’m going in there myself,” Mina nearly shoves Jihyo’s chair across the room as she stands, grasping at the frill of her dress and heading down the hallway towards the garden door.

“Uh, are you sure that’s smart? If you do anything to provoke her she'll only make you angrier,” Jihyo calls out to her as she moves further away.

“I’m tired of her attitude,” Mina grumbles, opening the door and stepping out into the bioluminescent flora.

The garden had previously been one of Mina’s favorite places to escape to, the calming aura of the glowing trees and luminescent vines bringing her a kind of peace that she utilized in her daily duties as princess. Unfortunately now it’s been tainted, used to keep their newest prisoner isolated from everything and everyone, a decision Mina clearly did not agree with but was made anyway.

She approaches with determination, ready to set this delinquent straight and let her know what awaits her in her future. The holopanels on both sides of the dome morph until they are transparent, and Mina has to hide her surprise that the prisoner is already waiting on the other side.

She also has to hide her surprise at her appearance.

Mina has only ever seen this prisoner through a fuzzy camera screen at night, making it hard to determine any features she may have. But as the panels within the dome come to life and light the cell, Mina truly gets a glimpse at the stranger.

Her cocky smirk is surprisingly gone, curiosity filling those wide eyes as she approaches the glass. Her left arm is covered in strange markings, clothes an iridescent chrome despite her status as a lower class citizen, fingers filled with various rings, hair tied high onto her head.

She’s striking, a cut above the average criminal Mina usually sees enter the palace walls.

But it doesn’t make Mina any less pissed off.

“Princess,” the prisoner gives a bow in the most dramatic fashion, ponytail flying back overhead as she returns upright. Her grin is back, tossing the infamous ball up into the air and catching it over and over as she asks, “To what do I owe the late-night pleasure?”

“‘Pleasure’ is too nice of a word for this encounter,” Mina scoffs, eyes rolling in disbelief at this girl’s attitude. “Why do you _insist_ on being such a nuisance to the people of this kingdom? We’ve given you rather nice accommodations despite your absolutely barbaric actions and your way of thanking us is to _break it?_”

“_I’m_ the barbaric one?” The prisoner asks with a laugh of disbelief. “I’m not the one from a family that-”

“_Enough._”

Mina is surprised the prisoner is compliant, if anything taken aback by the harshness of her tone. She despises when anyone spoke ill of her family. They’ve done nothing but help provide for the people of Nova City, done nothing but keep them safe, secure, and happy. She refuses to let some low life speak ill of them. “I’m not sure of a lot of things about you, prisoner, but I would like to hope you know when to mind your tongue.”

“My name is Chaeyoung,” the prisoner, Chaeyoung, deadpans with her arms crossed, “not that it matters much to you, Princess.”

“You’re right,” Mina nods, turning to leave the girl to her own devices, “it doesn’t.”

“The truth must not either then.”

Mina stops, turning where she stands to stare Chaeyoung dead in the eyes. “There is no truth to the words you would try to speak to me. No weight to words without evidence.”

“Is that why your family ordered I be kept in seclusion? Or are they just scared I’ll spread weightless words to the other prisoners?”

“I’m not sure why you’re here and frankly I despise it and your enormous attitude, as well as that ego of yours that must be compensation for your height,” Mina shrugs, reveling in the offended gasp that Chaeyoung lets out before recomposing herself as a calm and level-headed princess would. “But, on the bright side, at least your cell has a mute button.”

Chaeyoung opens her mouth to speak, to yell at Mina, but the princess taps a button on her holopad and suddenly she can’t hear a single word of it. She sighs with a petty smile, watching the anger morph on Chaeyoung’s face before turning to head back inside, intent on getting some sleep after such a taxing interaction.


	2. part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has secrets, princess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you all enjoy <3

Handling the media has always been on the low end of Mina's favorite duties as princess of Nova City, but she knows it's something that must be done. The press fire questions left and right at her within the conference room, Mina standing behind the pedestal waiting patiently for silence to answer them. 

"Princess Mina! Princess Mina! Reports of a breach in security were shown within Im Industries' Firewall Protocol, are there any truth to these rumors?" A female reporter asks.

"There was an _ attempt _ to breach the information contained within Im Industries but rest assured, the information of the people is safe and secure," Mina answers with a gentle smile. 

“What about the allegations of government information being hidden within Im Industries’ servers?” Another reporter, male this time, asks with a suggestive tone. Mina internally rolls her eyes, hates that he would assume that there is anything they would have to hide from the people.

“I can confidently say that neither the government, nor my family, have any information to keep secret from the people,” Mina says with conviction, face taking on a serious expression. “The very allegation that we would have anything worth hiding from the people is absurd, and you’ll do well to remember that. Thank you.”

The press call her name over and over again, begging for one last question as she leaves the pedestal and heads out of the conference rooms. Mina’s shoulders sag the moment she leaves the room, tired from juggling so many issues. She can feel her brain buzzing, from being made to stand in front of so many others despite it being a job she quite enjoys. She just wishes her nerves would calm down.

She heads back to the palace after a few breathing exercises meant to calm her, brain still buzzing but considerably less than before. She wonders if she should go to the garden and relax-

Except she can’t anymore, now that it’s inhabited by that criminal.

She groans into her hands, wishing she could just have one _ normal _ thing today.

When she arrives at home, the butler greets her with kind words, telling her she did wonderfully at the press conference. Mina appreciates his support, him having been apart of the family since she was a child.

“Oh, and don’t forget to take your medicine, miss,” he reminds her, tone caring yet firm. Mina nods with a smile, assures him she’ll take her daily dose once she’s reached her room, before holding onto the frill of her dress as she ascends the stairs.

She makes it a mission to change out of her fluffy dress first, learning at a young age how to get herself in and out of dresses alone as not to be a nuisance to the other staff within the palace. Once the dress is off and her skin feels like it can breathe, she injects her daily medicine into the inner crook of her elbow, sighing before throwing on white iridescent pants and a black tank top, leaving her room once more with her holopad in hand.

“Surprised to see you here again,” Jihyo hums as Mina makes her way into the CCTV Control Room, the other girl leaned back in her chair as she swipes the floating digital screens around the room. Mina grunts in response, takes the spare chair and leans back while looking through all of her work files.

Jihyo takes a look at the other girl’s demeanor and must be able to tell she’s upset, because the holopad is slowly removed from Mina’s hands. When she looks up at the slightly older girl, Jihyo rolls her eyes with a small smile tugging at her lips.

“Go to the garden,” Jihyo states, and Mina’s head tilts to the side in confusion. “You always go there when you’ve had a day, and I can tell you’re anxious.”

“But _ she’s _ in there,” Mina grumbles, gesturing to the camera focused on the prisoner's cell. The girl is reading a book, laid back against the holopanels that shift into different pieces of furniture. Today it’s a chaise lounge connected to the ground, and Mina thinks she is being pretty over the top with her choice in furniture.

Jihyo shrugs. “So? It’s not like she can see you from inside there unless you let her.”

Mina grunts in defeat, knowing Jihyo is much too stubborn to let her sit and mope and would rather she better herself mentally. She sighs, gesturing for her holopad as she stands, which Jihyo happily hands back to her, and drags her feet down to the entrance to the garden.

She immediately feels better once she’s among the bioluminescent trees, a fresh breath of oxygen filling her lungs and relieving the excess stress in her body. She makes a mental note to not thank Jihyo for forcing her in here, both of them clearly too stubborn to ever admit the other was right, and moves further into the garden to find a bench.

Despite being in the garden to relax, she still handles some of her workload once she’s found a good bench to sit on. Her holopad beeps quietly as she skims through her mail, reading up on the current status of the city and its needs, before reaching an email regarding the issue of the new prisoner.

Mina scowls, looks to where she knows the dome prison is. Despite the holopanels design to make the dome near invisible, Mina can still spot the intrusive eye sore at the edges. She opens the mail, groaning at the list of press meetings she has to give over the next few days to assure the people that their information is safe and no, the prisoner was _ not _ a victim of police brutality- it’s a nightmare.

Mina scowls, swipes the mail away from the forefront of her holopad as she stands, pressing a few buttons before the dome shows itself, panels fading to show the prisoner still lounging comfortably as she read a book about famous ancient artists.

“Prisoner,” Mina calls out, not in the mood to dignify her with the fact that she remembers her name.

Chaeyoung merely looks at her from over the pages of her book, eyes piercing into her before falling back down to the words on the pages.

“Thought you had forgotten about me, dear princess,” Chaeyoung’s tone is dripping with sarcastic disinterest. It only serves to make Mina even more frustrated.

“Trust me, I would _ love _ to pretend you don’t even exist,” Mina points out, tone laced with barely contained anger. “But your little stunt with the hacking got the attention of the media, as well as your arrest.”

“Wow, a girl engages in a high speed chase with the police on a motorcycle and is _ not _supposed to draw the attention of the media? I had no idea,” Chaeyoung is still blatantly uncaring about the whole situation at hand, turning the page slowly over to the next.

God this girl knows how to grind every one of Mina’s gears.

“What was so important that you had to hack the most secure network in the world, anyways?” Mina throws her hands in the air, turning in a slow, agitated circle before coming face Chaeyoung again. “What could _ possibly _ be worth a life lived in a cage?”

“If I recall,” Chaeyoung drawls, eyes finally locking with Mina’s for the first time since she opened access to the dome, “you told me there was no truth to my words. So why would you bother asking if you wouldn’t believe me anyways?”

“God you’re so _ infuriating! _ ” Mina shouts slightly, hands lacing through her hair like distress laces through her bones. She cannot _ stand _ this girl’s attitude.

“Oh aren’t you cute with your downtime clothes and your angry face,” Chaeyoung coos. Mina honestly feels like she could scream. “Why are you even talking to me anyways? It’s not like I can just take back what I did and pretend none of this happened.”

“Because it’s _ your _ fault I have to deal with all of this mess,” Mina says pointedly. She realizes there’s no point to even being here when Chaeyoung shrugs, going back to her book as she says, “I’m only here because you guys have secrets and I was the only one with balls to find them out.”

“There are no secrets!” Mina groans. “As princess, I know all the going-on’s of my kingdom, and my father has never hidden anything from me. Everything he knows, _ I _ know, which means the _ people _ know as well.”

“You don’t even know why I’m here,” Chaeyoung says, plain and simple. It takes Mina aback slightly at how blunt she is because she’s.. She’s right. Mina has no idea why she’s here other than that she hacked into secure files. She figures it was just medical or financial records of her family, nothing insane.

But if it wasn’t a big deal, why is Chaeyoung being kept in isolation?

“Whatever,” Mina mutters, pressing a few buttons on her holopad and closing the dome again. As she walks away, she hears Chaeyoung say one last thing to her.

“Everyone has secrets, princess.”

The words ring through her mind all night.

\--

It takes days of convincing herself that Chaeyoung is wrong, that her words mean nothing, for her to finally give in and be curious about it. To allow her mind to wander to a possibility that yes, maybe there _ is _ something being hidden. Just to indulge Chaeyoung and the ridiculous thoughts she had planted in Mina’s mind.

“I apologize that I’ve called you on such short notice, but I needed to clear my head,” Mina apologizes as she enters the office, Nayeon smiling as she shuts the door behind her and they take a seat at her desk.

“Nonsense,” she waves her hand noncommittally. “We’re friends, Minari. I’d happily cancel all of my meetings for you.”

“You’d happily cancel all of your meetings anyways, don’t lie to yourself,” Mina jokes, earning a cheeky grin from her good friend. Nayeon has been the current CEO of Im Industries for around a year or so now, turning the already great company into a permanent staple of Nova City’s security. She has been a trusted ally to Mina’s family, and an even more valuable friend.

Which is why Mina decided to go only to her with this strange question.

“So, what can I do for you?” Nayeon asks, sat at her desk with a confidence unlike any other, like she owns the world and she knows it. Mina admires that about her, her self-assuredness and her intelligence, and looks up to the older woman in those lights.

“Obviously you’re aware of the recent attempt to infiltrate your security system,” Mina begins, causing Nayeon to groan tiredly.

“I’m _ very _ aware, my lawyers and the press won’t let me hear the end of it,” Nayeon huffs, head resting tiredly into her hands. “If you’re here to ask me to fix it, the issue has already been contained and security tightened tenfold.”

“No, that’s not it,” Mina shakes her head. “I trust you enough to know to fix a mistake you may have made.”

“My _ grandfather _ is the one that left behind the literal smallest backdoor into the royal files like an absolute neanderthal, and no one thought to check for any security discrepancies,” Nayeon clearly sounds irritated, and Mina understands completely. Well, she understands enough to sympathize, she knows next to nothing about the semantics of cybersecurity.

“I ask because the press keep bothering me, but..” Mina hesitates, wondering how she should approach asking the question. She eventually settles with, “A journalist asked a question about how the government and Im Industries is keeping secrets from the people. And despite knowing firsthand that that’s not true, I wanted to come and verify it.”

“Which is understandable-” Nayeon is cut off by a loud alarm on her phone. She looks at the screen, humming when she sees the notification. “Hold on just a moment.”

“Take your time,” Mina nods, watching Nayeon open one of her desk drawers and pull out a syringe filled with medicine. As Nayeon injects it into her arm, Mina makes a note to take her own daily medicine when she returns home.

“Sorry about that,” Nayeon smiles, putting everything back into the drawer before turning back to Mina, who shakes her head as though to say don’t worry about it. “Now, back to what you were saying.”

“Yes,” Mina nods. “I wanted to verify what’s in the royal files for posterity sake. I’m assuming it must be just medical and financial records?”

Nayeon’s smile falters for the first time since Mina had entered the room. “I’m sorry Mina, but I can’t actually disclose any information about what’s in that file.”

Mina feels her muscles go rigid.

_ Everyone has secrets, princess. _

“I don’t understand,” Mina’s voice is quiet and calm, as opposed to the chaos beginning to swell within. “Why wouldn’t I be able to access the files. Are I not apart of the royal family whom those files belong to?”

“You are, and I completely understand your confusion,” Nayeon begins patiently, “but even _ I _ don’t have any access to that file. At least not alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the royal files require a two-way authentication to access,” Nayeon explains. “I have one key into the files, and the king, your father, has the other. Even the work we did on encrypting the files didn’t give us access inside like it did that hacker. We still have absolutely no idea how they were able to slip through such a microscopic gap in the firewall unnoticed until it was too late.”

“Why so much protection for such insignificant files?” Mina wonders aloud. “If it’s just medical and financial records why go through this much effort to keep them so secret?”

“I wish I could tell you, Minari,” Nayeon sighs, leaning back against her big executive chair. “I guess some people just really like their information kept private.”

_ Everyone has secrets, princess. _

“She was right,” Mina whispers.

“What was that?”

“O-Oh nothing,” Mina smiles, standing and giving Nayeon a pleasant curtsey. “Thank you again for all of your help, Nayeon. I truly appreciate all you do for me and my family.”

“It was no problem at all,” Nayeon beams, standing to walk Mina out of her office. “And don’t be a stranger! Friends don’t always meet friends on business, you know?”

“I’ll be sure to grab some lunch with you soon,” Mina smiles kindly, curtseying once more before heading back home.

She doesn’t even talk to Jihyo this time, opting to head straight to her room and take her daily medicine. As the medicine enters her bloodstream she feels an incredible sense of calm wash over her, her shaking nerves mellowing and overactive thoughts and emotions becoming pacified. She feels everything float for a moment before it returns to normal, and she takes a deep breath before heading to the garden.

She allows herself to slow down as she enters, to appreciate the sounds and sights of the garden in the light of the golden sunset, just before everything will come to life with a mint green glow. She taps a few buttons on her holopad, watching the dome appear in front of her and the wall essentially disappear, seeing the prisoner on the other side playing with that ball that makes Mina want to rage in an unladylike manner. 

“Why are you so insistent on being such an annoying imbecile?” Mina groans, mind seeming to lose her entire purpose for being in front of Chaeyoung. The girl stops bouncing the ball, looking up at Mina before slowly standing up from her lounge bed and walking towards the wall. Chaeyoung seems completely unemotional as she looks over Mina, no doubt judging her appearance, until she gets to her eyes.

“Oh, that explains it,” Chaeyoung mutters to herself, causing confusion to flood Mina’s brain. But Chaeyoung opens her mouth again, looking more.. Gentle? “Did you come here for something, princess?” It’s something in her voice, the lack of the usual sarcasm and bored tone replaced with _ something _ Mina can’t pinpoint. Patience? She can’t figure it out.

But it makes Mina remember why she’s here, clears the weird haze around her mind, allows her to focus. She shakes her head slightly, huffing out a breath of irritation because the haze left behind a major headache. “I.. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Chaeyoung merely shrugs, like she knows something Mina doesn’t, but doesn’t elaborate. “It’s fine. What did you need?” Her voice still lacks sarcasm but it’s not as gentle anymore, which is still surprising considering the mutual dislike that bubbles between them.

“What’s in the royal files you hacked?” Mina asks bluntly, Chaeyoung raising her right eyebrow in skepticism.

“Is this some sort of test?” Chaeyoung’s first question is. “Is this like some weird, elaborate way of getting me to prove I can be trusted so you can get me out of your precious garden?”

“What?” Mina asks, a bit taken aback by the weird thought process the prisoner had, shaking her head. “No, _ no _, why would I do that? You know, don’t answer that.” Chaeyoung’s smirk is smug as Mina shakes her head again, rubbing her throbbing temples to try and focus her thoughts again. “I went to Im Industries and I don’t have access to the stupid files because of some two-”

“Two-way authentication, yeah I saw it in the security code transcript,” Chaeyoung nods.

“And it’s irritating me because what could they possibly be hiding in there?” Mina asks tiredly, turning and slipping down against the dome until she’s sat against the ground, arms propped up onto her knees as she holds her head. She hears Chaeyoung mirror her movement on the other side of the dome wall, almost complete opposites of one another.

“I feel sick,” Mina mutters, still shaking her head. “I thought I knew everything about this city and its people and my parents but it turns out I’m just the idiot sent out in front of press conferences to lie.”

“Finding out everything isn’t what you think it is sucks,” Chaeyoung’s voice is somber, like she’s lived through a similar situation before. Mina doesn’t know why it makes her want to reach through the dome and comfort her. Probably because she herself wants comfort more than anything right now. To be told it’s okay to be left in the dark, despite feeling sick to her stomach that she has been.

“You still haven’t told me what’s in the files,” Mina mutters into the space between her chest and legs, head resting against the arms on her knees. Silence follows, brief but enough for Mina to grow anxious, until Chaeyoung mutters, “You really don’t want to know.”

“Who are you to decide that for me?” Mina turns towards the dome, watches Chaeyoung turn her head just to look at her in her peripherals. She hates that she still looks so calm and collected even after being in prison for weeks.

“What makes you think you’d actually believe anything that came out of mouth? _ Especially _ something big enough to get me thrown in isolation?”

Mina goes to rebuttal but stops, because once again Chaeyoung is right. There’s no way she would believe anything she said to her, even if it was the full and complete truth. She wants answers, but she wants them from something or someone she trusts. 

So she sighs, stands up and mutters, “Sorry to bother you. I’ll leave you to your devices.”

“That’s it?” It’s Chaeyoung’s turn to be skeptical. “No yelling at me for the ball, no deprecative remarks?”

Mina shakes her head tiredly and begins to walk away, but Chaeyoung manages to grab her attention once more before she shuts the dome.

“Mina.”

It’s the first time she’s said her name. Not princess or any other nickname. It makes her pause her steps, but not turn around.

“Just..” Chaeyoung pauses, considering her words. “Be careful what you’re putting your trust into.”

Mina barely acknowledges her words, can’t if she tried. Instead, she merely closes off the dome with her holopad and heads to the security room towards Jihyo. The girl greets her with a warm smile, kicking out the extra chair towards the other girl who plops into it gratefully. “Another lovely chat with our prisoner?”

Mina sits and mulls over her thoughts for a moment, trying to decide what to say to make it seem like she isn’t being slowly convinced by the prisoner filled with attitude, before settling with a simple question.

“Jihyo, what does our medicine do?”

Jihyo pauses for a moment, looking over at Mina to see if her inquiry is serious. When she sees nothing but wide, vulnerable eyes, she merely shrugs. “Other than keep us alive, nothing really.”

Mina hums in response, letting her thoughts wander back to the day when the Earth was forever changed; when a large meteor fell from the stars and crash landed in the outskirts of Nova City. No one had been injured in the initial impact, but as the day had passed people who lived near the crash site began falling ill and dropping like flies within the span of 24 hours of infection. 

The doctors tried to discover their cause of deaths, but by the time they discovered the truth it was too late. The company in charge of both the science and medical division of the city, Horizon, announced that the mysterious disease was airborne, and soon everyone in Nova City would die. Their scientists had rushed to create a cure, but it was no use. The best they could do was create a daily antibiotic to stop the disease from shutting down all bodily functions. Now the people of Nova City live quarantined and, quite literally, day to day.

But something about Jihyo’s answer still isn’t sitting right with Mina. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat, as though debating whether she should ask what’s swimming through her mind. Jihyo notices, nudges her so she knows her questions are valid and she won’t think any less of her for asking. Mina is incredibly grateful for her presence.

“Does your medicine ever make you feel.. almost as though you’re in a daze?” Mina asks, her voice laced with hesitance. Jihyo pauses, eyes still watching the camera screens but Mina can see the cogs turn in her brain.

“No, I usually just feel relaxed when I take it,” Jihyo shrugs again. “I guess it’s the reassurance that I get to live another day that keeps me calm.”

The way she words it makes something stir in Mina’s mind, an idea that she knows will not be shaken or easily forgotten. She nods once, standing from her chair with much more self-assuredness than she had when she entered the room. “Do I have any schedules tomorrow?”

Jihyo’s nose wrinkles. “I watch security cameras all day, why would I know your schedule?”  
  


Mina opens her mouth to answer but realizes Jihyo is right, and a laugh escapes her lips instead. “I suppose you’re right. Thank you for letting me ask questions that probably make me seem crazy.”

“I’ve known you for years, Mina. I _ know _ you’re crazy,” Jihyo grins teasingly. Mina scoffs, shoving Jihyo’s shoulder and listening as the room fills with her friend’s laughter. She’s so grateful for the other girl it’s almost unbearable.

“Make sure you rest, okay?” Mina asks softly, smile more gentle than before but still present on her face. Jihyo nods with her own cheeky grin, and she leaves with a soft goodnight. As she returns to her room, Mina uses her holopad to check her schedule for the following day, already planning to dig further into this well hidden web of unknowns.

-

“Name please?”

“Myoui Mina.”

The secretary’s eyes are wide with surprise as her eyes finally lift from the holoputer. Mina holds in her laugh, knowing it’s not every day that a member of the royal family visits a Horizon facility that isn’t the main offices. She simply smiles kindly at the secretary as her shaky hands type away at the visitor’s log.

“A-And what is the purpose of your visit?”

“Just visiting an old friend for lunch,” she explains briefly, lifting the plastic bag of food in her right hand. The secretary nods profusely, and Mina begins to find her behavior odd. Most people get over their starstruck behavior around her quite quickly, due to her gentle and kind nature. But this woman is genuinely _ nervous _, and Mina can’t quite figure out why.

“Alright, you’re all set. Here’s your pass M- I mean Princess,” the secretary stutters nervously, and if it weren’t for the unsettling feeling in the pit of Mina’s stomach she would have found it cute. Instead she smiles, and follows the secretary’s directions to reach the room she’s looking for. Mina takes the elevator ride to breathe deeply and push out all strange feelings. She wants to enjoy her afternoon with her friend, as well as ask a few questions.

She enters the laboratory, momentarily awed by all of the white in the room; pristine floors, equipment, lab coats, all of it, colored white. The only thing not colored white, thankfully for Mina’s sake, is the bright purple hair of a girl standing out like a sore thumb in the entire room. Mina grins as she walks towards her, the girl turning confusedly at the sound of heels on her floor but a surprised smile spreading across her face as she sees who’s here.

“Mina!”

“Hi, Dahyunnie,” Mina’s smile hurts her cheeks, setting the bag of food down onto a stool before wrapping her old friend into a tight hug. Dahyun’s hugs always used to fill her with so much happiness and warmth, and to this day that affect she has on her has not changed. Dahyun hums as she waddles them slightly during their hug, breathing out, “I’ve missed you, Minari.”

“I miss you too, Dahyunnie,” Mina smiles as she pulls back from the hug, placing her hands onto Dahyun’s shoulders to get a good look at the purple haired girl. “God, you really grew up, huh?”

“Mina you’ve known me since university, not since we were four,” Dahyun rolls her eyes playfully. Mina can tell Dahyun is about to tease her some more but her words are stopped by a loud rumble coming from the younger girl’s stomach, who blushes profusely at the sound.

“Hungry?” Mina giggles.

“Starving,” Dahyun’s embarrassed expression turns into a guilty one, and Mina knows she hasn’t broken her habit of stopping her work when she’s on a roll to eat. She holds off on scolding her though, instead picking the bag of food back up from the stool and holding it in the air implicitly. “Are you actually here to see me, or are you escaping work?”

“Can’t a girl do two things at once?” Mina teases with a grin. Dahyun rolls her eyes again. “Got a place we can have lunch?”

The two tear through half of the food within ten minutes, between Dahyun being starving and Mina never being allowed to properly treat herself in the eyes of the public. As Mina and Dahyun catch up, the princess complaining about the prisoner in her garden and Dahyun complaining about her superiors always wanting pristine samples, and fight over the last dumpling, the princess eventually letting her friend have it and declare victory with a triumphant grin, she decides it’s time to discuss what she really came for.

“Hey, Dahyunnie?”

“Mm?” Dahyun hums questioningly around the whole dumpling in her mouth since she couldn’t be bothered to chew.

“What can you tell me about your work?”

Dahyun swallows her food, puzzled expression taking over her face. “You mean what I do in general or Project Stonewall?”

Now it’s Mina’s turn to be confused. “Project Stonewall?”

“You know how I had some of the best grades coming out of university?” Dahyun starts, grinning cockily when Mina grumbles ‘oh I know’, “When I graduated and Horizon recruited me, they immediately put me on the Stonewall project. I mainly work on the medicine to fight the disease and stuff, but sometimes they give me other work to do when I get bored.”

Mina perks up. “You work with the medicine? Do you mind if I ask you something about it?”

Dahyun smiles, always has been happy to share information about what she’s working on with Mina. They always worked together in university, either with Mina listening to Dahyun ramble about science until she talked herself towards the solution or Dahyun helping Mina work through her social anxiety to give utterly phenomenal speeches. It’s unfortunate that, between being a brilliant scientist and a princess, their time spent together has become more spread out.

“Has the medicine ever made you feel hazy in your own mind?” Mina asks immediately, knows Dahyun won’t think weird of her. “Or like you’re just an outsider in your own body?”

There’s a moment of hesitation, one where Dahyun’s eyes won’t meet her own and she gnaws on her bottom lip nervously. Mina knows she hit a nerve but she doesn’t push, doesn’t want Dahyun to think she’s demanding information from her.

“There’s been a.. _ development _ of sorts, in the way the antibiotic has been manufactured as of late,” Dahyun’s words are quiet, like she shouldn’t be saying anything about this. Red flags appear in Mina’s mind, immediately thinking the worst possible scenario and capitalizing on it while she waits for Dahyun to continue.

“We realized that living day to day isn’t exactly the most ideal situation for anyone, especially children, elderly, and people with anxiety disorders. So we’ve..” Dahyun trails off, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. As though afraid of what Mina might think of her. “About ten years ago they started adding small chemical qualities to the antibiotic to calm the mind when administered, but the doses have been increasing as the human body needs more and more once it’s used to the dosage-”

“So you’re saying that Horizon have been injecting people with happy pills?” Mina cuts her off, clearly shocked and a bit taken aback.

Dahyun grimaces. “The medicine puts people into a calm and stable state of body and mind.”

Mina leans back in her chair, allowing this information to sink into her brain. Dahyun immediately is up to defend herself in the situation. “Please don’t think I’m a terrible person! I just- I wanted people to feel okay and not scared that they could die tomorrow, so I agreed to help on the program, please-”

“Dahyun, I could never think a single bad thing about you,” Mina reassures her quickly, watching how Dahyun’s entire body sighs in relief. “I’m more confused about the situation in its entirety.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if Horizon has enough to basically drug people into being calm and happy, why aren’t they doing more to find a cure?” Mina thinks aloud, leaning forward until her forearms rest against her thighs, looking up at her friend. “Don’t you guys have samples of the disease that you can use to find a better solution than living literally day to day?”

Dahyun shakes her head solemnly. “We’re not allowed to touch the samples, they’re the only clean ones we have and they’re from the day of the incident.”

“If everyone is infected with this disease, why do you have such few samples?” Mina wonders quietly. Dahyun opens her mouth, halfway to providing what Mina hopes will be an answer, when familiar clicks of Oxford dress shoes approach the doorway. Mina curses her luck inwardly, turning to see the king himself standing in the door with a kind smile.

“My darling Mina! What a lovely coincidence,” the king smiles to Mina, the princess confused as to why her father is here when she saw their family schedules and knows he has business with Im Industries today.

“Hey, dad,” Mina smiles, leans into her father’s awkward embrace as he hugs her sitting figure with one arm wrapped around her shoulder. Dahyun looks paler than ever (if that’s even possible) at the sight of the king, standing and bowing profusely in his presence.

“Honey, please don’t worry. Any friend of Mina’s is a friend of mine,” her father says kindly, but Mina can’t shake that this entire situation seems too.. wrong. “Are we working hard in here today?”

“If you call eating our figures away ‘working’, then yeah we are,” Mina forces a joke to seem nonchalant, making sure its not known that she thinks something is wrong. “What are you doing here, dad?”

“Oh just coming to check on the progress of Project Stonewall, boring king stuff,” he waves off her question too easily, and Mina really doesn’t like the discomfort lodged in her stomach. The king walks around the table towards Dahyun, placing what would look like a proud hand on her shoulder as he says, “You’re doing fine work here, Miss Kim. You must really enjoy your placement in Horizon.”

Mina recognizes it in the way Dahyun shakes, in the way that she swallows harshly before nodding, eyes never leaving her father’s. He’s threatening her, threatening her job and who knows what else, right in front of Mina. “Y-Yes sir, i-it’s an incredible opportunity that I won’t take for granted.”

The king smiles, Mina can feel how wrong it is. “I know you won’t.” Before Mina knows it, the entire interaction is over, her father turning back towards her and gesturing towards the door with his head. “Come now, Mina. Let’s head home.”

Mina knows not to fight it, doesn’t want to make the situation worse, especially for Dahyun’s sake. So she stands, flashing Dahyun a smile that is both ensuring and confused. Dahyun shakes her head very minutely, and Mina understands. After verbally wishing Dahyun a good day and hugging her old friend, she follows her father out of the Horizon facility and towards the limo.

There are only two thoughts running through her mind. One, why would Horizon go to such lengths to sedate people and not to cure them? And two.. 

She needs to talk to Chaeyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twitter @ tigermochaeyu and get early access to the final chunk of this story on my patreon @ tigermochaeyu as well!


	3. interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized while I was editing that I needed to post this part first before the last chunk, so enjoy a quick update ❤️

She thanks her father for the ride as soon as they arrive home, announcing that she will be with Jihyo after she changes, should he need her for anything.

She eyes her medicine hesitantly as she retrieves her syringe, taking a deep breath and grounding herself to her thoughts before injecting it. She feels the rush of calm as it enters her bloodstream but tries not to let it take over, focusing on how she needs to speak to Chaeyoung until the syringe is empty. It seems to take more of a toll on her when she fights the medicine, feeling the headache grow like it had the day before and some minor fatigue as well. Strange that it would have such an effect on her, but she focuses on her goal and changes her clothes.

She reaches the garden easily, still affected by the minor fatigue but otherwise unwavering in her purpose. The holopanels shift and become opaque with the touch of a button, and Mina sees Chaeyoung meditating in the center of the dome.

“Chaeyoung.”

The prisoner’s eyes open immediately. She says nothing, eyeing Mina curiously as though looking for something. Mina, surprisingly, waits patiently, and becomes confused when she sees the prisoner smile. Not a smirk or a shit-eating grin, but a genuine smile.

“That’s the first time you’ve ever said my name, Princess.” It’s her tone that ruins it, but Mina still has to fight down a rogue blush from crawling across her cheeks.

“Don’t get used to it,” she grumbles.

Chaeyoung laughs breathily, standing from the floor and making her way towards Mina and the edge of the dome. Mina always finds it strange to see her up close. “What can I do for you, your highness?”

"I need to know if there was anything in the files you hacked regarding the antibiotic and Project Stonewall." 

Chaeyoung seems surprised that Mina knows about Project Stonewall. Mina hates that there are things people expect her not to know. 

"I can't." And still she won't tell her. 

Mina groans, clearly desperate for information. "Great. Dahyun can't tell me anything, my father is _ clearly _ hiding something judging by how he was acting at Horizon earlier-" 

"Wait wait wait wait wait," Chaeyoung shakes her head quickly, "you _ went _ to _ Horizon?" _

Mina frowns. “Was I not supposed to?”

“No,” Chaeyoung shakes her head with a humorless laugh. “No, you definitely weren’t.”

She watches Chaeyoung turn around, hands on her head as though stressed and trying to think, pacing around in a small circle before abruptly turning back to Mina. Her eyes are filled with something Mina can’t place, and she isn’t sure what to feel about the way her body language becomes aggressive. “What changed, hm? Why do you all of the sudden want to know?”

“I’ve been asking you since day one what was in those files,” Mina crosses her arms indignantly. “The only difference between then and now is that now I know what I’m asking for.”

“And what makes you think either of us have any reason to trust each other?” Chaeyoung matches her posture, giving off an air of power, letting Mina know she has the upper hand in this situation. “Why would you trust a low class criminal to give you any sort of information with a hint of truth in it? Why would_ I _ trust you not to go run off and tell daddy what I know?”

“Why would I tell him I know something when I can’t trust him either? When he suddenly shows up at Horizon to ‘check on things’ _ just _ as I get through to my friend and learn something? When I _ know _ he wasn’t supposed to be at Horizon today?” Mina throws her hands up into the air, frustration running high.

Chaeyoung’s demeanor seems to soften, mouth opening to say something, but the metal clang of the door leading to the garden groans as it opens. Mina turns, praying it's not her father interrupting her _ again _ today, and sighs in relief when it turns out to be just Jihyo.

“Sorry to interrupt your bickering session,” Jihyo teases with a grin as she approaches the dome, pressing a few buttons on her holopad until a small slot appears in the dome’s side. She slides the small package Mina hadn’t noticed in through the slot, Chaeyoung accepting it easily. “Your medicine.”

“Thanks,” Chaeyoung grunts, closing herself off due to the presence of someone other than Mina in her space. Jihyo nods kindly, turning and shooting Mina a playful look as she closes the slot in the dome, before saying her goodbyes and leaving the garden.

Mina watches Chaeyoung take the syringe filled with medicine out of the wrapping, holding it like a specimen to be examined between her index finger and thumb. She stares at the liquid in the glass, muttering quietly, “What did you find out about the antibiotic that makes you so willing to trust me?”

“My friend, Dahyun, works on Project Stonewall,” Mina says quietly, watching Chaeyoung with the same intensity that she stares at the syringe with. “She told me that the medicine puts people into a state of calm, that their focus is on making it easier for people to live literally day to day instead of finding an actual cure.”

Chaeyoung hums, turning to walk slowly in a circle once again. “And they haven’t touched the disease samples since the day of the incident.”

Mina’s brow furrows. “Yeah, how did you-” She cuts herself off before she can finish her sentence. “Oh right, hacker.”

“I’m just making sure your information lines up with mine before I do this,” Chaeyoung says as she moves to stand in front of Mina once more.

“Before you do what?”  
  


Chaeyoung’s response is to stare Mina straight in the eyes as she drops the syringe to the floor. Mina’s heart rate spikes as it hits the ground, relief flooding through her when the glass doesn’t break. That relief is immediately replaced with mortification as Chaeyoung’s boot crushes the syringe beneath her foot.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Mina shouts, eyes wide with anxiety and worry as she stares at the liquid antibiotic spilling out onto the ground.

“I have a hunch,” Chaeyoung shrugs. “Besides, why do you care what happens to me? When I die, you’ll get your precious garden back, right?”

Mina’s head is swimming, conflict raging in her chest. On one hand, Chaeyoung is right. If she dies, Mina doesn’t have to worry about her imposing on her safe space anymore. But this girl has integrated herself into the garden, become apart of the safety it provides her despite how infuriating she is. But also if she dies, Mina will never get the information she wants, and will live her entire in perpetual confusion.

‘Yeah’, Mina thinks, ‘that’s why I’m so worried about her. The information she knows is valuable to me.’

“You better be alive tomorrow,” Mina grumbles to mask her emotions as she walks away. “I need to know what you know.”

“Sure you do, Princess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @ tigermochaeyu and yell at me on curiouscat.me/tigermochaeyu


	4. part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoy lovelies <3

Mina doesn’t sleep a wink.

The conflict that tore her chest and mind in two refuses to let up, worried thoughts swimming behind her eyes and keeping her nerves on end, part of her wanting to act but the other not knowing why.

Laying in bed was no help so she has resorted to pacing the length of her room for hours, debating using her security clearance more than once to check on Chaeyoung. She’s almost left her room at least twice to tell a guard what happened, to bring Chaeyoung more medicine herself,  _ anything _ to make sure the girl doesn’t die.

But a part of her knows she can’t. Knows that she sacrifices any inkling of trust she’s built up with Chaeyoung if she interferes with this incredbily stupid hunch of hers.

Chaeyoung’s words ring in her head.  _ ‘Why do you care what happens to me? When I die, you’ll get your precious garden back, right?’ _

Why  _ does _ she care?

It’s the same thought that’s been ringing through her mind, an incessant buzz that won’t go away. Because she  _ shouldn’t _ care. She  _ knows _ she shouldn’t care. That stupid hacker girl has been a thorn in her side since she decided to weasel her way into some unknown high profile top secret files. She took her garden, her peace of mind, her sense of stability..

So why does she care that she’s going to die? Why is there this stupid voice in her head that keeps telling her to go check on her, to save her, to keep her alive?

It haunts her until the sun rises, the bags under her eyes a reminder of her inner turmoil. And the worst part is that she can’t even check on Chaeyoung until the afternoon because of her duties as a princess. ‘Thank god for makeup,’ she thinks as she goes throughout her day, smiling and pretending as though her entire world isn’t being thrown into chaos because of some stupid girl.

The way her body slumps as she finally enters the limo after her duties is unusual for her, to the point where even her driver seems concerned.

“You’ve been looking less and less okay every time I see you nowadays,” Sana hums worriedly as she pulls away, the thrum of the limo hovering across the road lulling Mina into a sense of calm despite everything. “You can talk to me if you want.”

“It’s.. really stupid, honestly,” Mina groans, rubbing her face with her hands to try and wake herself up from this weird fever dream where nothing makes sense. “Nothing feels like it should anymore, and I feel so out of my depth ever since that stupid hacker decided to poke her nose where she shouldn’t have.”

Sana grins, Mina can tell by the way her eyes crinkle in the rear view mirror. “Ah, the prisoner. Jihyo tells me how often you’ve been visiting her over the last couple of months.”

“Because  _ she _ knows something that  _ I _ don’t,” Mina emphasizes, leaning forward to rest her head in her hands. That panic creeps through her chest again, the one that she can’t seem to push away because Chaeyoung could already be dead by the time she gets back and she’ll never know what she does. “I hate that I’m just the princess blind to all of these secrets, and everyone seems to be making sure I don’t know what’s going on.”

Sana hums again, turning slowly around a corner as she contemplates her next words. Mina wishes she would hurry and get them home faster. “Feeling like something is being kept from you is quite irritating, but even though the prisoner knows something you don’t, she’s not the one truly keeping it from, and I feel like you already know that.”

Mina grunts, letting Sana’s words sink in for a moment. She’s right, Mina knows. Chaeyoung isn’t the one that created this information she doesn’t know, she only brought it to light. She’s only mad at her because she won’t tell her, and she has every right to not tell her. Chaeyoung had said it herself, Mina could just as easily turn and spill everything she knows to her father and then her usefulness would have been outlived.

But Mina knows she wouldn’t do that, especially not after everything that’s been happening recently. Certainly wouldn’t do that to Chaeyoung and betray her, not after all she’s gone through to stay alive.

If she is still alive when she gets back, that is.

God, why does she  _ care? _

“We’ve arrived, Princess,” Sana’s voice pulls her back to the present, the royal family home towering over her view from the car window. She thanks Sana before moving to get out, but is stopped by Sana’s voice again.

“You’re not a bad person for what you’re feeling,” Sana says softly, as though reading Mina’s mind. As though knowing how confused Mina is about the existence of this stupid hacker girl and how she managed to weasel herself onto the list of people Mina genuinely cares for. Instead of replying with words, she nods once, hoping Sana understands how thankful she is for those words as she walks into the home with as much haste as she could without drawing suspicion.

There’s a moment where she debates heading upstairs, debates changing and taking her medicine before heading to the garden. But that fear grips her chest again, the inexplicable worry that Chaeyoung had died while she was performing her duties as princess. And that thought makes the decision for her, feet carrying her through the home and into the garden, to her safe place, to Chaeyoung.

She pads through the trees, neon vines seemingly thicker than usual. Maybe it’s just because she’s in a hurry, maybe she doesn’t pay enough attention to her favorite spot anymore. Her heels are a nuisance walking along the soft ground, stiletto piercing the dirt more than once until she gives up and slips her feet out of her shoes entirely.

She finally reaches the dome, hands shaking with an unusual amount of anxiety as she presses the buttons she needs to for the dome to open, to reveal if her fears came to fruition or not.

Her heart leaps up into her throat when she sees Chaeyoung lying motionless on her lounge.

“No,” she breathes out, the nervous beat of her heart hammering against her ribcage as she realizes that she was too late. “No no no no,” she mutters over and over, tapping more buttons on the holopad to open the dome completely, but she doesn’t have the security clearance. She curses loudly, throwing her holopad to the ground as she approaches the dome.

“Get up,” she nearly whispers, hands pressed against the cool glass of the dome. She doesn’t realize she’s started crying until she tastes the salt on her lips, and it doesn’t help the inner turmoil she feels at all because she shouldn’t be crying over this girl. But she is, and her heart feels strangely like it has been shattered.

Her fists slam against the dome, a loud thump resounding from the impact. “Get up! You stupid idiot, get  _ up! _ ”

The raw emotion in her voice vibrates across the surface of the dome, and there are no words that can describe the relief that surges through Mina’s veins when Chaeyoung jolts, sitting up abruptly.

“Wh- Mina?”

An almost pained gasp and fresh tears fall at the sound of Chaeyoung’s voice, and Mina can’t help but crumble to the ground, every ounce of stress and turmoil and fear finally leaving her body and leaving her weak and so relieved because Chaeyoung is  _ alive _ .

“Woah, Mina!” Chaeyoung gets up, rushes towards the edge of the dome, towards the now hyperventilating princess. “Hey hey hey, what’s wrong?”

“You-” Mina tries, but she can’t seem to figure out how to breathe properly.

“Hey, look at me,” Chaeyoung’s voice is calm, steady, everything Mina isn’t right now. Everything she hasn’t been in the last month. So she does what she says. “Eyes here, watch me breathe and follow along.”

There’s an unexplainable level of trust Mina feels like she’s handing over to the other girl as she allows her to lead her through breathing normally again. As though putting her life in her hands, and honestly in her panicked state it almost feels as though that’s exactly what she’s doing. Tears still fall once she regains her ability to breathe on her own, and Chaeyoung still stays knelt down on her side of the glass.

“Are you okay?”

Mina’s head immediately shakes. “I couldn’t sleep because you broke your stupid syringe and I was worried sick you would be dead when I came back and then you looked dead and I just felt so fucking afraid but I can’t figure out  _ why _ and it’s so  _ infuriating! _ ”

Chaeyoung lets her rant, doesn’t reply with any snarky comment, no shit-eating grins. Just patiently sits and lets her get everything out until Mina’s entire being pauses in a moment of realization.

“Wait, how are you not dead?”

Chaeyoung’s once calm and focused facial expression turns to one of embarrassment, like a child being caught taking a cookie despite having been told not to. Her smile is weak, eyes refusing to meet Mina’s own.

“I had to know if I could trust you,” Chaeyoung explains in murmured tones. “And to trust you I had to be sure that  _ you _ would trust  _ me _ despite not knowing what would happen.”

“And you knew what would happen?” Mina retaliates, a flare of anger rising in her chest. “Or did you just risk your life on a stupid hunch?”

“Mina,” Chaeyoung’s voice is nothing but serious. “I haven’t taken my antibiotic in months.”

Mina pales. “That.. That can’t be possible. The disease, the.. You should be  _ dead _ .”

“You trusted me, now I’m putting my trust in you,” Chaeyoung speaks softly, changing her position from kneeling to sitting cross legged. Mina matches her position, figuring she better get comfortable for this. Chaeyoung takes a deep, slow breath, meets Mina’s eyes before she begins to speak.

“A few months ago I got laid off from my job at Im Industries,” she begins. “Too many workers, not enough work to stretch between us all. And it was fine, it made sense, but I couldn’t find any jobs anywhere else. Fast forward a few weeks later I was on my last few bills, enough to buy a meal but not enough to buy my daily antibiotic.”

Mina feels her heart clench in her chest. She knew Chaeyoung was lower class but she hadn’t realized just how much she had struggled with money. It makes her feel terrible for taking her own wealth for granted.

“So I bought the best meal I could with my last couple bucks, figured if I was gonna die I might as well enjoy my last few moments,” Chaeyoung chuckles darkly. “But then I woke up the next day. No weird skin disease, no collapsed lungs, nothing that the government said would happen happened. I was still  _ alive _ .” 

“So I figured it must be a fluke, made a couple dollars working as a dishwasher for the diner down the street and bunkered down for the night to see if it would kick in, if the disease would take me. Kept this up for weeks before I realized I wasn’t going to die, that the government has been shoving lies down our throats for years. So, I did what anyone with a degree in cybersecurity would do.”

“You hacked the government,” Mina deadpans.

“I hacked the motherfucking government,” Chaeyoung grins cheekily. Mina groans, rolling her eyes despite being entertained by the prisoner and her antics. “It took a lot of favors and a lot of dirty dishes, but I managed to get what I needed to get past the firewall faster than it could detect me. I was just looking for proof that my hunch was right, but the only place I could find the proof was in-”

“The royal family’s secret files,” Mina breathes out, her mind going haywire as everything from the last month slips into place. The two-way authentication to access the files, the chemically induced emotions, her father showing up at Horizon despite her not telling anyone where she was going.

“My father,” Mina breathes out slowly. “He’s the one that ordered the files remain secret, isn’t he?”

Chaeyoung nods solemnly. Mina feels like her world is crumbling apart.

“The people that died when the meteor crashed died from immediate exposure to the smoke and fumes and the people that died after died because of their already poor water supply being contaminated by a space rock. The reason no one can access the DNA samples from the day of the incident is because they’re only there for posterity. The government, they-”

Mina swallows, preparing for the harsh blow of the truth.

“There was never a disease, Mina,” Chaeyoung’s voice is soft, as though knowing how much those simple words would shake the world as she knows it. “The government created this disease to control the people. No one can leave because of this false quarantine, and the government is using the antibiotic to blind people to the truth but sedating them.”

It doesn't hurt as much as she would have thought, hearing that the disease plaguing her people isn't real. It's more of a relief, to know her people are safe from some false disease. But the pain still spreads, spreading like fractured glass through her chest and behind her eyelids. Because she herself has been lied to for years by her father, she herself has been left in the dark despite being made to believe she knows all there is to know. 

"I'm sorry if this is very painful for you to hear," Chaeyoung's voice is still gentle, piercing into Mina's thoughts but not overcoming them. "I don't know how close you are with the king but-" 

"I've been used," is all Mina can find the strength to mutter. "All my life I've been a symbol of unity and truth to the people, and it turns out I lied to every single one of them. My father couldn't even handle the repercussions of his own actions so he used his only daughter to take the blows for him." 

Silence rings through the air, save for the chirps of birds and bugs throughout the garden. Mina felt numb, all energy and purpose seemingly leaving her body as her realization washes over her. She never knew the truth because she was never meant to know, was never  _ supposed _ to know, because it would defeat this purpose, this  _ role _ thrusted upon her to play. She feels hollow, knowing she’s lied to her people for so long, and that knowing once the truth is out she will be the one to blame.

A soft thump reaches her ears, eyes lifting sluggishly from the ground.. Her eyes meet Chaeyoung’s first, and seeing how genuine the empathy that shines in her eyes is reassuring in some way or another. Then her eyes move towards the source of the sound.

It’s.. incredibly cheesy, Mina thinks, to see Chaeyoung’s hand pressed against the thick glass of the dome. But as cheesy as it is, it fills Mina with this warmth that feels like the satisfaction of a budding friendship, and something else Mina can’t quite place. Maybe hope, but that’s something she can’t find in her to have right now.

And despite how cheesy it is, she finds herself placing her hand against the glass as well, parallel to Chaeyoung’s own.

“I’m sorry,” Chaeyoung repeats, “but I promise you’re not alone. You have your Dahyun friend, that security girl, and.. and me.”

Mina looks back into her eyes. Chaeyoung swallows, nods to herself and repeats, “You have me.”

There’s that hope again, flaring in the center of her chest. It’s too prominent this time, and she can’t ignore the relief it gives her. She smiles slightly, nodding to Chaeyoung and muttering a quiet ‘thank you’. Chaeyoung returns the smile, her hand sliding down the glass of the dome and back into her lap.

Somehow, Mina can feel the lack of warmth in her palm.

“So, now you know the truth,” Chaeyoung speaks, softness still there but her confident aura back in its place.

“But what good does it do if I don’t have any evidence?” Mina groans, dropping her head into her hands. “You’re the only one who saw anything, but the files are still locked tight without my father’s key.”

“I had a USB drive with the files in it, but it was destroyed when the police caught me,” Chaeyoung sighs, running a hand through her long, dark tresses.

There’s an idea gnawing at Mina’s brain, and she  _ really _ doesn’t like. Doesn’t like how a month ago this idea would have never entered her mind, doesn’t like how much Chaeyoung is rubbing off on her with her devil-may-care attitude. But on the other hand, she knows she could probably use some recklessness if she wants to even attempt such a foolish idea.

“If I were to do something that would probably get both of us killed if it goes wrong, would you join me?” Mina asks softly.

“Considering I’m stuck in this dome, do I really have a choice?” Chaeyoung teases with a grin, and if MIna could she would shove her shoulder. “Of course I would join you. You’re currently Nova City’s best hope of finding out the truth.”

Mina nods, feels more pressure fall onto her shoulders than it ever had before, even as princess. She takes a long, deep breath, before steeling herself in the face of her fears and exuding as much confidence as she can.

“Here’s my idea.”

-

“Are you ready?”

Jihyo levels Mina with an unamused look.

“Are you seriously asking me if I’m ready to betray the throne and everything I’ve ever known?” Jihyo deadpans, earning a gentle sigh from the princess.

“Look, Ji,” Mina walks up to her, placing her hands on her shoulders. She doesn’t know if she can do this without Jihyo’s help and support, but she would never force her to do anything. So she tells her just that. “If you don’t want to do this I won’t make you. You’re my best friend, the last thing I want is to put you in harm’s way.”

“You’re my best friend too,” Jihyo smiles, “which is exactly why I agreed to do this. Also the fact that the government created a fake disease for more money and power, that’s a big no in my book.”

Mina laughs, heart light despite the severity of the situation. She uses her grip on Jihyo’s shoulders to pull her into her embrace, hugging tighter than she ever has before. “Thank you, I hope you know how much I truly mean that.”

“I know,” Jihyo’s arms wrap tightly around her waist, enjoying this moment of peace before they possibly destroy their own lives. “Now let’s get this started, we won’t have much time once we do this first part and we’re not even sure if the second part is going to work.”

“It will,” Mina is confident despite her fears, “I know it will.”

“I hope for all of our sakes that it does,” Jihyo’s voice is serious and weighted with all of the things that could go wrong. Mina can’t afford to think of the grim possibilities, so she follows Jihyo out of the control room and towards the garden.

“Sana already took Dahyun to the rendezvous point and she’s waiting for you outside,” Jihyo explains, taking her holopad and clears away the holopanels of the dome, revealing a patiently waiting Chaeyoung as she bounces her ball against the side of the dome. Mina hates that she’s going to miss the action, that she’s become fond of the familiarity of it all.

“Are you ready?” Jihyo asks Chaeyoung. The girl nods, and Jihyo takes a long, deep breath before quietly muttering out, “here goes nothing.”

Using her security clearance, Jihyo electronically removes the walls of the dome, the glass breaking into sections and sinking into the ground around the white floor of the isolated cell. Chaeyoung seems relieved to have fresh air in her system, taking a long breath and smiling as she exhales slowly.

She approaches Mina, smile genuine and filled with gratitude, and places her hand into the air between them. “Chaeyoung, nice to meet you.”

Mina rolls her eyes with a laugh, taking the hand presented to her. She hadn’t realized how much she was anticipating this moment, actually getting to see and speak to Chaeyoung and touch her without the presence of a thick glass dome between them. “Princess Mina, the pleasure is mine.”

“Thank you, by the way, for trusting me,” Chaeyoung’s voice drips with sincerity, and that sincerity is reflected in her eyes. She still hasn’t let go of Mina’s hand, but Mina finds she doesn’t really mind.

“Of course,” she smiles. Doesn’t notice the nervous flutter of Chaeyoung’s eyes, how she seems to look everywhere and nowhere for a moment-

It happens faster than she can comprehend, Chaeyoung using her grip on Mina’s hand to pull her closer. The princess makes a noise of surprise as Chaeyoung’s arms wrap tightly around her waist, unable to stop herself as she hugs back just as tightly. 

There’s a sense of security and an overwhelming relief that comes with the embrace. Weeks of fighting against each other and bickering turned to trust and solace, what was once disdain now fondness, all encompassed in how desperately they hold onto one another. It’s almost their first real and genuine contact since they’ve met, but Mina doesn’t want to give it up, despite just how little time they truly have.

Chaeyoung seems to sense it too, holding that much tighter to the back of Mina’s jacket. Mina feels like the weight of the world has lifted from her shoulders, if only for this small moment. There’s a glint in Chaeyoung’s eyes as she half-heartedly retreats from Mina’s embrace, genuine and grateful and something else not quite easy to read. She misses the movement in front of her while her mind races, a hand on the back of her neck giving her barely enough time to close her eyes before she feels Chaeyoung’s lips press against her own.

They’re softer than she had imagined. It’s not until now that she realizes that she had even imagined this at all.

So she kisses back, tenderly at first and then with more fervor than she had intended, because Jihyo is right; they truly don’t have enough time. There’s that looming fear that they might not make it out of this without being imprisoned or killed, and this might be the last moment she has to enjoy the life around her. Her hands cup Chaeyoung’s face, giving into this moment for as long as she can before they have to face reality.

Chaeyoung pulls back first, breathless but cheeky grin ever in tact on her lips. “Well, at least I know what it’s like to kiss royalty before I die.” Mina can’t stop the laugh that bursts past her lips, can’t believe Chaeyoung’s mischievous behavior has grown on her.

“You guys are cute,” Jihyo says as she pretends to gag. Mina flips her off. “But we have to go. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Mina nods. Chaeyoung goes with Jihyo as Mina makes her way towards the front doors.

“I need your holopad,” Mina hears Chaeyoung say. Jihyo gets defensive immediately. “I have to tell my contact outside of Nova that we’re moving so we don’t leave blind. But don’t worry, you’ll love Momo.”

“Fine,” Jihyo grumbles, and Mina chuckles under her breath at her best friend’s protectiveness over her tech. She takes a long, stabilizing breath, readying herself to approach the hardest part of their plan, and heads towards the Limo where Sana is waiting.

-

“Mina, you understand what you’re asking me to do, right?”

Sat across the desk that overlooks all of Nova City and its people, its security, Mina pleads her case to Nayeon. Explained to her how deeply rooted the lies of this city, her family, are, and how that hacker that made their way into the encrypted family files found everything within them. Mina knows Nayeon has one of the keys to the files, and so she needs her help to access them.

But, understandably so, Nayeon is nervous.

“Look, I know this seems incredibly-”

“Suicidal?” Nayeon interrupts, looking completely baffled that Mina would ever suggest something of the sort.

“-dangerous, was the word I would have chosen,” Mina grumbles, “but I hate that I’ve been blatantly lying to the people of Nova City since I was young. That my father put this role onto me so that he could hide the truth in the furthest corners of the world. No one would believe me if I just said ‘the medicine is fake’ without proof.”

“I believe you,” Nayeon shrugs.

“That’s because we’ve been friends for years and have a genuine bond and trust within one another,” Mina points out. “I’m just the princess to these people, and if I said something like that to the people the government would toss me into a cage and say I’ve gone insane and no one would believe me!”

Nayeon sighs, leaning onto her desk and resting her head into her hands. “Even if I wanted to help you, I don’t have the other key. Your father, the  _ King _ , has that.”

Mina grins, pulls the small flash drive hanging onto her necklace out from beneath her shirt. “You mean this key?”

Nayeon groans. “That hacker girl did a number on my goody two-shoes friend. I don’t know how I feel about the new mischievous you.”

“I just want the truth to be out there,” Mina explains honestly, suppressing a smile at the thought of Chaeyoung. Nayeon sighs once more, both in disbelief and defeat, pulling her own drive key out from her desk and gesturing for Mina to give her her father’s.

“This isn’t me saying I’ll help you,” Nayeon points sternly. “I just want to see this for myself.”

Mina watches intently as Nayeon clicks away at her keyboard, images and files zipping across the screen of her holoputer before approaching one named ‘MYOUI’. Once clicked, a prompt for both encrypted keys appears on the screen, Nayeon inputting both keys into her computer and typing in her own password to access the database.

Once the file is opened, multiple images display across the screen. The first of Mina’s suspicions are confirmed, that there are indeed medical and financial records within the file, but there is one smaller file within the family file hidden behind all of the images. Nayeon makes a small noise of curiosity, clicking on the smaller file and revealing a single document.

As she skims through it, her eyes progressively get wider and wider. “Holy shit, you weren’t lying.” She turns the screen to Mina abruptly, pointing at and prompting the princess to read the same excerpt she just had.

_ In an effort to contain the panic spreading throughout the city, King Myoui II has issued a medicinal be created to help calm the minds of the people. When informed that there is no disease to combat, he assured them that the people would believe anything, and went forward with his plan with the help of Horizon scientist Dr. Yoo. With a manipulation of the original DNA samples from the first deceased citizens at ground zero of the meteor strike, Dr. Yoo and King Myoui II successfully convinced the citizens of Nova City that a daily medicine was the only chance at survival. _

“This is exactly what we need,” Mina exclaims in relief. “If we can show the people this, they’ll know the truth!”

“And how exactly do you plan on showing the people this?” Nayeon asks, much too intrigued for her own taste. Mina grins, and Nayeon knows she’s going to regret asking.

“The hacker girl that’s corrupted me so much? She tampered with that key I gave you,” Mina nods to the device plugged into the computer. Nayeon squints her eyes threateningly at her. “It won’t do anything until you allow it to. But if you’re in, it will broadcast a public service announcement across all screens in Nova City, a video of me telling the truth.”

“And what about the file?” Nayeon asks. 

“It will be spread like a virus and put onto all other screens that aren’t broadcasting the video.”

Nayeon looks both impressed and terrified. “And you said she used to work for me?” Mina nods, causing the older woman to sigh. “I can’t believe I’m gonna die because our government is scum.”

Mina smiles reassuringly at her, thanking her from the deepest depths of her heart as Nayeon grumbles and pulls up the file with Mina’s video. Once done, the prompt to send the video file to all of Nova City appears, and Nayeon looks at Mina confusedly. “How are we supposed to get out of here once this starts? The government will know this came from a computer with access to all of Nova City and there’s only two of those; mine and your father’s.”

“Once you give the program the OK, a ten minute timer will begin its countdown before it begins. After that it will become a virus, and even unplugging the key won’t stop it,” Mina explains. “I already have Sana waiting for us downstairs to take us from here.”

Nayeon sighs, grumbling under her breath, “If I had known I was about to become a fugitive I would have finished watching that drama last night.” Mina chuckles at her friend’s antics, standing and moving to wait by the door while Nayeon hits the large ‘accept’ button on the prompt.

“If this were anyone else, I would have had them arrested for sounding insane,” Nayeon teases as she grabs her coat. Mina rolls her eyes, the two of them claiming that they’re heading out for an early dinner to anyone who asks.

Sana smiles brightly as they enter the limo, Dahyun already inside with Jihyo and Chaeyoung. “Ready?”

“In less than two minutes, we’re about to become the most wanted criminals in Nova City,” Mina says, her nerves finally getting to her. She feels a hand slipping into her own, looking to see Chaeyoung sat beside her giving her as much encouragement as she can with such a simple gesture. It gives her much more strength than she would ever admit. “Let’s get out of here.”

-

_ People of Nova City; I am so sorry. _

Mina hears her own voice through the screens outside of the limo, the vehicle reaching the edge of the most bustling part of the city as the video begins. It’s dead silent in the limo, everyone listening with incredibly high nerves

_ For twenty years, your government, your King, me; we have lied to you. If I had known earlier, I would have never allowed myself to hide such a truth from you, but I myself was blinded to the truth as well. _

Mina can see how people stop in the streets to watch her video, listening with rapt attention to their princess.

_ The truth is, there is no airborne disease. _

She can almost hear the murmurs of confusion ripple through the crowds.

_ The truth is that King Myoui II and the government capitalized off of your fear to create a fake antibiotic drug, led you to believe that you would die without it, and used your money and compliance to stay in power. _

The confusion becomes anger, people starting to shout and talk amongst themselves in disbelief.

_ This document, on your phones and holopads and everywhere else, shows the truth, written days after the meteor landed in the outskirts of Nova City. There was never a disease, the deaths surrounding the meteor were caused by water contamination and asphyxiation from the smoke.  _

The shouts become louder, the proof that Mina had fought so desperately to gather proving useful to combat the people’s belief that the government would never do anything that wasn’t in the people of Nova City’s best interest. Chaeyoung grasps Mina’s hand tighter, supporting her silently.

_ I have not taken my daily antibiotic in over four days, and I have no symptoms of this mysterious disease the government made us believe in. That the government made  _ me _ defend. _

Mina feels her heart sink, worried that her people will hate her in her last few moments within the city limits, worried that she will be forever branded a traitor to the people. But this is for the best, she reminds herself, that the people remain free.

_ I am so sorry, people of Nova City. I did not wish to harm any of you, but even I succumbed to the fear. I hope you will forgive me as you take back your lives, never having to live in fear that today could be your last day ever again. _

The video ends, looping back to the beginning to play through again, but it is drowned out by the shouts and disarray of Nova City’s citizens as the limo reaches the edge of the outskirts, en route to the city border with nothing but a small hope of making it out of the city alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you thank you THANK YOU for reading my first and probably only michaeng au! i really hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> if you wanna leave me a comment or something i'd really appreciate it! also follow me on twitter @ tigermochaeyu for more of me yelling about twice

**Author's Note:**

> please leave me some comments and follow me on twitter @ tigermochaeyu <3


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